USPTO Names Three New Technology Center Directors

Nicholas Godici, Acting Undersecretary of Commerce and Acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), has added three new group directors to the Patent SES Management Team in the agency's Patent Examining Technology Centers, effective October 21, 2001.

Bruce Kisliuk has been selected as a group director in Patent Examining Technology Center 1600, which examines inventions related to biotechnology and biochemistry. Sharon Gibson and Richard Seidel have been named directors in Patent Examining Technology Center 2800, which examines semiconductor, electrical, and optical systems and components.

Prior to joining Technology Center 1600 as a director, Bruce Kisliuk most recently served as the executive assistant to the commissioner for patents. Since 1996, Kisliuk has been on assignment to the executive offices of the patent organization. Since coming to the USPTO in 1983, Kisliuk served as a primary examiner in Group 3500 and as a supervisory patent examiner in Group 3200. He was awarded the Department of Commerce Bronze Medal in 1993 for individual achievement, and has been a member of two teams, which have received the Silver and Bronze medals. Kisliuk earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University and a Graduate Certificate in Advance Public Management from the Maxwell School, Syracuse University in June 2000.

Sharon Gibson most recently served as the USPTO's deputy director of the Office of Human Resources, before being named a director in Technology Center 2800. Prior to that, she was a supervisory patent examiner in Technology Center 1700, supervising patent examiners in various chemical and chemical engineering technology areas. She was awarded the Department of Commerce Bronze Medal in 2001 for individual achievement. Gibson received her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from North Carolina Central University and a Graduate Certificate in Advance Public Management from the Maxwell School, Syracuse University in June 2000.

Before being named a director in Technology Center 2800, Richard Seidel most recently served as a supervisory patent examiner in Technology Center 3700. Since joining the USPTO in 1982, he was selected as a supervisory patent examiner in 1990 and was assigned to the deputy assistant commissioner for patents from 1995 to 2000, leading efforts in the planning and development of the Working Lab and Reengineering Pilot in two technology centers, and discussing automation issues including the removal of paper files. He has received the Department of Commerce's Bronze and Silver medals and USPTO's Norman Morganstern Award. Seidel received a Bachelor of Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University in 1982, and a Graduate Certificate in Advanced Public Management from the Maxwell School, Syracuse University in 1998.